Door operating mechanism



Nov. 21, 1950 E. s. PRINGLE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM 2 Sheets$heet 1 Filed Jan. 50; 1945 IN VEN TOR.

H IS ATTORNEYS Nov. 21, 1950 E. s. PRINGLE DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 30, 1945 IIIIIIIIH INVENTOR.

H ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 0B .QB AT Q-MEQWQN SM Edward S.Pringle, Norfolk, Va., assignor to The J. -G. Wilson"Cor-'poration, New .Y'o'rk,-.N. Y., a corporation. of Virginia Application January 30, 1345, Serial No. 57. 2 69 This invention relates to door, operating mechanisrn, and more particularly concernsimproved mechanismfor raising and lowering a vertically movable sectional door of the type commonly. used for residential garages and I like building entrances.

In the past, vertically movable doors .of the type described have beengenerally designed for manualtoperation. They are ,usuallyprovided with counter-weightsor springs which act, against the pull of gravity on ,the door structure and so assist .in lifting 'the door .to its open position. Despite such counter-Weighting, the'opening and closing, of a doorv of this nature requires the exertion of considerable force. and is generally a laborious operation.

ilniaccordance withthe present invention, itis proposed. to provide a compact and simplified power, operated mechanismfor raising. and lowering a'dooruponmanipulation of asimpie control means, and to so, construct and arrange .the operatingrnechanism .that the door is opened by energy stored in a springror its equivalent an'd is lowered by a motor that charges or windsup the spring while the, door is b ing lowered by gravity to its closed position. The invention further contemplates ,the provision of improved control means iorjthel door operating mechanism including a moyable elementin the nature of a spring latch for securing the door in its lowered closed position and a switch ior controlling the .energization andde-energization of the (motor. Alock ay e prov declin co un i wit th cont o means whereby the door maybe operated from outsidethe building by a key. The arrangement is preferably suchthatthe switch and latch are operatively associated so thatthe switch can be 'closedto energize the, motor and so close the door when the dooris in any position other than its closed. andlatched position, and that the movement of'the latch incident to closing and latching the door moves the switch to its open or motor deer ergizing position. The invention further contemplates the provision of a combined switch and latching mechanism which is simple in construction and easy, to operate and which requires a ninimum amount of wiring forits connection with the motor. Various other objects, advantages and characteristic features of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing description ofan. embodiment thereof.

In accordance with the invention, the motor operates only during movement of the door to the g'closed position. This arrangement permits the nsejof a small, compact and simple. irreversible .2 motor of the high torque and low speed type, and the motor may be directly connected to the door drivefwitho'ut the use of speed reduction earing. The arrangement is extremely compact and'provides adoor'operatin'g' mechanism which" is easy to manufacture; testfinst'all and operate.

In'des'c'ribing the invention in detail, reference will be made to the'accompanying drawing 'in which a "apron "embodiment thereof has been il Ius tra'tedTfIn'the drawings; 1 is a perspective view showing an installatiori of mechanismembodying the inventionin connection with a vertically movable doorf 3 Fig. 2 'is an elevation,'"p artly in section, of the motor andcable'drumjassembly ofltl ie apparatus showninl fig fli YEigS isan enlarged elevation of the latch and switch rnechaiiismbf the apparatus;' Fig. 4 is ailiorizontal section'taken along the line IV IV o'f}Fig. 3 and viewed 'in the direction or the arrowsj Fi g. 5 i's a vertical section taken along the line VV of Fig. 4 "and viewed in the direction or'tne arrows, showing'the parts in the latched or door securing position";

Fig. 6 isaf vertical section as inFig. 5 showing the" parts in the urilatc'hedor door releasing position; and W Fig. 7 is a vertical section as in Figs. 5 and 6 showing the parts and the position they assume when the door has moved away from its latched positionand is in an'open position.

In su mfnaryithe disclosed embodiment of the invention includes a vertically movable door suitably connected to a biasing meansin thefori'n of a spring driven "drum, the' spring of normallyiwoundup or charged toa tensiorisu fficient to moyefthe door upward iro'm'an position to its fully open'iposition against the action of gravity. A, motor is connected to the "spring driven drum, and acts when energized to rotate the drum in a direction to rewind or charge the spring, thereby permitting the door @to "move downward by gravity from any position to its ii lly closed position. A latch is arranged tosecure' the door in its fully closed position against the pull of the sprin and a switch is associated with the iatchand is operable toperrnit energizationoi the motor and olosu're of the use; when the door is inany position except its fullyclosedand latched position. The latch and switch are so iriterconnected that movement of the latch incidentiito closing andsecuring the door opensithe itch and sode energizes the motor.

R.eferr ing, more specifically ,tothe drawings, a

sectional vertically movable door I of conventional construction is shown mounted and guided by rollers 2 running in guide tracks 3. The tracks 3 extend vertically along the opposite sides of the door opening and run back horizontally along the ceiling of the building, and the door moves from the closed position shown upward vertically and rearward substantially horizontally to its open position. Cables 4 are secured to opposite sides of the bottom section of the door I and are disposed to be wound on a rotary drum 5 to which the cable ends are secured by suitable means such as the set screws 6.

The drum 5 is mounted on and fixed to a rotary tube 1, one end of which is mounted on the post 9 of a fixed wall bracket I by means of a bearing 8. The opposite end of the tube is fixed to the shaft I2 of anelectric motor I3 by a plug II, and the motor is suitably secured to the ceiling or any other support as illustrated in Fig. 1. A coiled torsion spring I4 is enclosed in the tube 1 with its opposite ends respectively fixed to the fixed post 9 and the plug II which is secured to the tube 1 and to the motor shaft I2.

The spring I4 is wound up or charged to a tension such that through rotation of the tube I and drum 5 it will lift the door upward from any position to its fully open position. This condition is generally met by designing and tensioning the spring I 4 to exert a lifting force about 5%. to greater than the effective weight of the door at any point.

The motor I3 is preferably of the high torque low speed type, and is .not reversible. It runs when energized in a direction to rewind or charge the spring I4 and so to unwind the cables 4 from the drum 5 whereby the door I is permitted to move downward by gravity. The spring I4 counterbalances the effective weight of the door and exerts an additional force which biases the door to move upwardly, and the motor need exert only sufficient torque to overcome the force by which the effective spring force exceeds the effective door weight. For this reason, the motor may be of low power and small size, and no speed reduction or torque multiplying mechanism need be interposed between the motor and the door operating drum.

The energization of the motor l3 and the securing and releasing of the door is controlled by a combined latch and switch mechanism. This mechanism includes a base I5 suitably mounted on the inside of the building wall adjacent the door and carrying a latch I6 pivotally secured thereto at IT. A cover I8 secured tothe base I5 encloses the latch but permits movement thereof laterally of the base as shown in Figs. 3,

5, 6 and 7. A shaft I9 is journaled in the base I5 and cover I8 and carries an operating handle .2I fixed thereto outside the cover I8 as shown is mounted on the cam 20. The switch 22 is of conventional construction and is so mounted that its contacts which are at the right hand end of the switch tube, are open when the cam I9 is in positions where the cam point slants to the left of the vertical, and are closed when the cam point slants to the right of the vertical as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. A leaf spring 23 is suitably mounted on the base I5 to bias the latch I6 to move outward toward its door securing position shown in Fig. 6.

The door I has fixed thereto a locking bar 24 located at a suitable height and bent to pass around the track 3 so that its end is disposed for engagement by the latch I6 when the door is closed (Figs. 3 and 4).

The latch and switch mechanism is normally located inside the building and provision is preferably made for operating the shaft I9 of the mechanism from outside the building. As shown in Fig. 4, a cylinder lock 25 of known construe-- tion operable by a key 26 may be mounted at theouter end of an opening through the building wall, and the stem 21 of the lock may be suit-- ably secured to the shaft I9 through a connec-- tion providing sufficient lost motion to permit the return of the key 26 to a point where it can be removed from the lock when the door is in a position where such removal is desired.

The latch I6 has a tapered hook portion I 6 arranged to engage and move over the upper edge of the bar 24 when the door is in its fully closed position. The under surface of the hook I6 which engages the bar 24 slants inward and upward but forms an angle of not less than with a line from the axis of the pivot I! to the point of latch engagement. There is thus a tendency for the bar 24 to be drawn against the edge of the base I5 and cover I8 as an aid to the detaining action of the hook IS.

The cam opening 30 in the latch I6 has two oppositely disposed cam engaging surfaces I6" and 39 therein. When the latch I6 is in the door securing position as shown in Fig. 5, the surface 30 is so disposed with relation to the cam 29 that the cam cannot be turned clockwise far enough to slant to the right of a vertical position, and accordingly the contacts of the mercury switch 22 cannot be closed. Rotation of the shaft I9 counter-clockwise as viewed in Figs. 5 and 6 causes the cam I9 to engage the surface I6" and so turn the latch I6 to its retracted or door releasing position against the bias of the spring 23, as shown in Fig. 6. The contacts of the switch 22 obviously remain open during this counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft I9.

Movement of the latch I6 in a direction to retract the hook I6 from the bar 24 is facilitated by the fact that the hook moves upwardly from its fully engaged position and tends in such movement to force the bar 24 into close frictional engagement with the edge of the base I5 and cover I8. Such frictional engagement partly resists or retards the upward movement of the door as the hook is being retracted, and so prevents undue frictional resistance to the retracting movement of the hook.

After the door has moved up from its closed position, the latch I6 may be moved to an extreme extended position as shown in Fig. 7. This movement may be caused by the spring 23, or this spring may be so designed that it does not move the latch beyond the securing position of Fig. 5, and clockwise rotation of the shaft I9 to a position in which the cam '20 slants slightly to the right of the vertical, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 7, may move the latch to the extreme position of Fig. '7. With the latch in the extreme position, the contacts of the switch 22 can be closed since the cam 20 can be tilted to the right of a vertical position into engagement with the surface 36'. The closed position of the switch 22 is shown in broken lines in Fig.

When the door I moves to its closed position, the bar 22 engages the hook I6 of the latch I6 and first swings the latch back to its retracted door upward through the cables 4.

tion of the tube 1 by the spring 14 turns the motor position as shown in Fig. 6 "and then -:iperrnits movement-.=.of the .latchpu't to :the door securing position as shown inEig. .5. rns theilatch 46 moves from the position of Fig. 37 .to that of Fig. :6, the cam 20 :is engaged .and turned counter-clockwise by the surface .310 to .aposition inwhich the cam point :slants .to .the. left :of the azertical, .as shown in Fig. 16, thereby opening the contacts of the switch 522.

The contacts .of .theswitch 22 are connected in series with an energizing circuit for the motor 13, and this circuitincludesthe .cable 28 connected to an electrical outlet and'the cable 29 which connects one of the leadso'f'the cable 28 in series with the switch-contactsand back to the-motor In operation, the door I is opened by retracting the latch it through counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 19 as described above, whereupon the door is lifted by the spring M which rotates the tube 5 and drum 6 and so pulls the This rotal3 in a reversed direction, the motor being deenergized, and this motor rotation stabilizes and slightly retards the motion of the door. If desired, the door may be lowered from any intermediate position by turning the shaft I9 clockwise and so closing the contacts of the switch 22 as explained above, the latch I6 being in or movable to its extreme extended position as shown in Fig. 7 during the upward travel of the door.

When the switch 22 is closed with the door I fully opened or at any intermediate position, the motor 13 is energized and turns the tube 1 in a direction to lower the door, the spring I4 being wound up or charged as the door is lowered. By turning the shaft l9 counter-clockwise and so opening the switch contacts, the door may be raised from any intermediate point. As the door moves to its fully closed position, the bar 24 pushes the latch i6 back to its retracted position and so opens the contacts of the switch 22 as explained above, thereby de-energizing the motor l3. The momentum of the door I, the motor l3 and the connected parts is sufiicient to insure complete closing of the door and movement of the bar 24 to a point where it is latched under the hook It. With the door in its fully closed and latched position, the shaft i9 is held against clockwise rotation to a position to close the switch 22. This prevents accidental energize.-

tion of the motor l3 when the door is latched shut. Burning out or other injury of the motor by energization thereof with a locked load thereon is thus prevented.

In case of failure of the power supply of the motor, the door can be readily opened and closed by hand, opening movement of the door bein effected by the spring [4 in the manner described above.

Counter-balancing weights might be substituted for the spring [4. The use of a spring is generally preferred, particularly because it results in a compact and unitary structure and permits factory assembling and testing as well as installation. The improved operating mechanism of the invention may be readily installed on doors which have been manually operated, such installation involving only the making of the desired connections and the removal of such counter-balancing mechanism as may have been originally provided. The invention which is defined in the appended claims is not limited to the structural ,details 'of ethe :specific embodiment thereof herein described.

1. Door operating mechanism of the character described comprising, in combination, a door movable between an upper open position and a lower closed position, a cylindrical tube rotatably secured to a fixed support adjacent the top of said door =when'in its closed position, at least one flexible cable connected between a point ad? 'jacent the lower edge of the door'andsaid tube and adapted to be wound on saidtube tolift said door when said tube rotates, a coiled torsion spring :enclosed within said tube and connected between said fixed support and said tube, said spring being of sufficient strength as to apply suflicient torque to said tube as it unwinds to rotate said tube to move the door to its open upper position, and an electric motor directly connected to said tube and acting when energized to rotate said tube in a direction only to wind up said spring and to unwind said cable from said tube to permit said door to move to its lower closed position by gravity.

2. A door securing and controlling mechanism for vertically movable power operated doors comprising in combination with a vertically movable door, a stationary latch adjacent said door mov able between a retracted position and a door securing position, a spring biasing said latch to move from its retracted position toward its door securing position, a catch on said door engageable by said latch and disposed to move said latch to its retracted position as the door is moved toward its lower closed position and to permit said latch to move to its door securing position when said door is closed, a switch movable between a circuit closing position and a circuit opening position, a part of said latch being disposed to engage said switch and move the same to its circuit opening position when said latch is moved to its retracted position and a second part on said latch being disposed to prevent movement of said switch to its circuit closing position when said latch is in its door securing position.

3. A door securing and controlling mechanism for a vertically movable power operated door comprising in combination with a vertically movable door, a stationary latch adjacent the path of said door movable between a retracted position, an intermediate door securing position and an extended position, a spring biasing said latch to move from its retracted position toward its intermediate and extended positions, a catch on the door engageable by said latch and disposed to move said latch to its retracted position as the door is moved toward its lower closed position, to permit said latch to move to its intermediate door securing position when said door is closed and to permit said latch to move to its extended position when said door is open, a switch movable between a circuit closin osition and a circuit opening position, a part on said latch being disposed to engage said switch and move the same to its circuit opening position when said latch is moved to its retracted position, a second part on said latch being disposed to prevent movement of said switch to its circuit closing position when said latch is in its intermediate door securing position, said second part on said latch acting when said latch moves to its extended position to permit movement of said switch to its circuit closing position. and man.

ually operable means for moving said switch under the control of said latch parts.

EDWARD S. PRINGLE.

REFERENCES CITED 5 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 19 507,269 Hicks et a1. Oct. 24, 1893 772,661 Krzyzanowski et a1. Oct. 18, 1904 903,905 Smith Nov. 17, 1908 1,062,085 Des-beaker May 20, 1913 1,086,775 Kobling Feb. 10, 1914 15 Number Number Name Date Hohne et a1 Feb. 23, 1915 Gilmore July 31, 1917 Duchsherer L Mar. 20, 1928 Dautrick Aug. 20, 1929 James 1 Oct. 21, 1930 Vander Veer Dec. 8, 1931 Beller Nov. 21, 1933 Mowers et a1. Mar. 31, 1942 Zoller Nov. 30, 1943 Edgemond Dec. 28, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France June 5, 1913 

